The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved the application for ferroalloy futures trading made by Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE), according to Chinese media reports.

ZCE stated that the launch of ferroalloy futures trading would not only provide a tool for tracing prices and managing risks, but would also improve the supply chain for ferroalloy products as well as improve service in the futures market. ZCE is expected to launch ferroalloy futures trading as soon as possible.

China is the world's largest ferroalloy producing country, whose output capacity accounts for 40 percent of the total global output. In 2012, China produced 4.78 million mt of ferrosilicon with a market value of RMB 33 billion ($5.3 billion). Meanwhile, in the given year China's silicon manganese output was 10.67 million mt with a market value of RMB 70 billion ($11 billion). China is also the world's largest ferroalloy exporter, exporting 621,000 mt and 454,000 mt of ferroalloys in 2011 and 2012 respectively.